ous circumstances came rushing into her mind. She
wondered it had never struck her before to doubt her friend's
patriotism. Nearly distracted with the dreadful discovery, she hurried
away to find Winifrede, and, showing her the paper, poured out her
story. Winifrede listened aghast.

"I'm afraid it's only too true, Marjorie," she said. "I've been talking
to Mrs. Morrison, and all sorts of queer things have come out about
Chrissie. It seems that a prisoner has escaped last night from the
German camp, and they think it must have been her brother, and that she
helped him. Mrs. Morrison has had a long talk with a detective, and he
said they telegraphed to Millgrove, where Chrissie's mother lives, and
the police there found the house shut up, and discovered that she is a
German, and that her true name is Lange, not Lang. The detective said
they have had Brackenfield under observation lately, for they suspected
that somebody was heliographing messages with a mirror to the German
camp. And who put that bicycle lamp in the Observatory window last
spring? We have certainly had a spy in our midst. We ought to take this
paper at once to Mrs. Morrison, and you must tell her all you know."

Marjorie not only had a long talk with the Principal, but was also
forced to undergo an examination by the detective, who asked her a
string of questions, until he had extorted every possible detail that
she could remember.

"There's not a shadow of a doubt," was his verdict. "There are plenty of
these spies about the country. It's our business to look after them.
Pity she got away so neatly. I'm afraid she and her precious brother
must have had a boat in waiting for them. It's abominable the amount of
collusion there is with the enemy. They'd accomplices in Whitecliffe, no
doubt, if we could only get on the track of them."

"I wish you had mentioned all this to me sooner, Marjorie," said Mrs.
Morrison.

"I never suspected anything," returned Marjorie, bursting into tears.

The poor child was thoroughly unnerved by her interview with the
detective, and the Principal's reproach seemed to put the finishing
touch to the whole affair. In Winifrede's study afterwards she sobbed
till her eyes were red slits.

"Never mind," comforted Winifrede. "After all, things might have been
worse. Be thankful you didn't lend her your brother's uniform. It's as
clear as daylight she didn't want it for charades. It would be easy for
a German prisoner to escap